Category: Updates

What is a soul?

When I started writing My Sister’s Soul I had no clue that would be the title for this collection of short stories. After reading what I had written and feeling the emotions that drove these women to pivotal moments in their lives, the title, My Sister’s Soul seemed fitting. It crept up on me one night, lodged into my brain, and refused to leave.

I went to dictionary.com and looked up soul. The more definitions I read for soul, the more I knew this title had found a home.

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“I can see a corner! Push again!” His tone is a mixture of excitement and anger. It has been a long road for the both of us. The long nights I thought I was, but wasn’t. The fear of not getting it right; of not being accepted. Through it all, he was there. We were finally ready.

“I can’t. I’m tired.” I pant with stolen breaths. I don’t have the strength. I’m borrowing his and that is only taking me so far. “I wish I could, but I’m done.” I steal another painful breath. ” After this one, no more.”

“You say the same thing every time.” He actually chuckles. He is lucky I am weak or I would smack him. “Come on, push! It’s almost over.”

For me, for him, I do as I’m told. The pain is excruciating. My mind lost in concentration.

“One more babe. One more push and it’s here. ” I felt it. I gave it all I had and out it came. I looked down and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. The pain and misery quickly forgotten as I gazed upon it.

“What will we call this one?” He stares at it in awe.

“My Sister’s Soul,” I reply. I reach out and lovingly stroke the front cover.

My Sister’s Soul. Available in December 2015 at online bookstores.

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Audelia is young, talented with a ton of possibilities lined up for her future. She just has one major problem. The monster…

I hate her. She is the bane of my existence. I often prey for the ability to wish her away the way that child did in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Her crystal blue eyes come to rest where I sit, half hidden in a corner of the room, and my thoughts desert me. The corners of her mouth twist up in a parody of a smile and I visibly cringe. Oh no.

“Audelia, dear, come here,” she beckons with dulce tones. The royal court surrounding the Queen Bee watches with indulgent smiles as I cautiously make my way to her. She offers me her hand as I draw near and I hesitantly take it. Her long cold fingers, first caress, then curl around my hand. The Queen Bee’s smile is as bright as the highly buffed chrome on my father’s old Cadillac.

The air is filled with sighs and ah’s as the nearby crowd witnesses what they think is a touching moment. If they looked hard enough, they would see the talon-like nails digging into the flesh of my palm. If they truly cared, they would notice the frostbitten eyes that sear into me. But the Queen Bee has played this game for a very long time. People see what she allows them to see. They have never met the monster which lies beneath the beauty. Never felt her all-consuming and constant wrath.

Whether awake or in slumber, I suffer mercilessly in this hell. A hell where the monster reigns. At times, I am more frightened of myself than of the monster. Will I awaken one day and find myself to be the mirror image of her inside and out? After all, she is my mother…

You can read the rest of Audelia’s ordeal in My Sister’s Soul which will be available at online booksellers the first week of December.

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Thank you readers!

To The One I Love by Dawn Gena

I want to thank everyone who has downloaded or purchased the romantic prose novella, To The One I Love. Thanks to you all To The One I Love is #1 in the contemporary poetry category and #6 the love poetry category in Kindle Store at Amazon.com.

A big kiss to all my readers. Without you this couldn’t have happened.

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George Lucas or Martin Scorsese would more than likely laugh at my little video but what can I say? A few authors, including yours truly, were asked to create some form of media that expressed something about them. Here is my effort. Ha, ha, ha…

Visit me at dawngena.com to learn more of what’s going on in my world.

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A Woman’s Point Of View

The Noose: A Mystery Novelette by Dawn Gena

Hmm, I don’t know, maybe readers would prefer a woman? It doesn’t seem as if anyone had anything to say about Scott Coleman, a male, being the main character of The Noose. Let’s see if anyone wants to comment on the lead character being a woman. Frankly I think a woman would be great. After all, woman are resourceful, tenacious, intelligent and let’s not forget passionate.

The Noose by Dawn Gena

An account of events as told by Loraine Barton:

I came to on the floor, wedged between the back seat and the front seat of what I thought to be a passenger van or SUV. I was lying on my stomach with my right arm pinned under me. My jaw was throbbing from the hit I had taken from that Neanderthal who had walked up to me outside of the airport terminal. Though the windows seemed to have a dark tint, the sun’s rays were doing their best to fry my back.

The vehicle wasn’t moving so I wasn’t sure whether we were still at the airport or if I had been driven some place else. I was about to raise my head when the driver’s seat shook a little and the door opened causing the small chiming noise of the car door to sound off. I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breathing as much as I could to make them think that I was still unconscious.

“I’ll get us some food and water.” A woman’s voice said from the driver’s seat. Her voice reminded me of the woman who had approached me just before I had been punched.

“You gas up and keep an eye on the package. Notice I said eye. Don’t you dare lay another hand on her.” The woman threatened.

The package? Were they referring to me? The front passenger door opened and the vehicle bounced and swayed as if something heavy was being removed. My guess, it was the massive monster who had slugged me.

The smells of gasoline, grilled meat and heat rushed in through the door the monster had left open. I could hear car doors opening and closing, children laughing and an occasional car horn honking. We seemed to be at a gas station. A very busy gas station.

My head was at an awkward angle that had the bottom of my chin resting on the floor mat with my neck craned back. I was about to move my head to a more comfortable position when everything went dark. I no longer felt the sun’s heat on my back. The overgrown troll must have been looking in the back window at me. I held my breath and froze. The last thing I wanted was for him to know I was conscious. It seemed like forever before the sunlight returned. The troll had moved away from the passenger right rear window.

By then, my neck was screaming for relief. I had to move my head. I heard the door of the gas tank spring open and then the twist of the gas cap. The troll was still on the right side toward the rear of the van or SUV. I finally thought it safe enough to move my head. As I did, pain shot from my neck, then my shoulders, ending at the back of my head. I tasted blood from my lip as I bit down to stifle my groan. Now, through my left eye, I could see more of my prison. From the look of it, I was in an SUV. The logo of the automaker was emblazoned in a small corner of the door between the window and the armrest. I also had a limited view out the rear right side window. I saw no sign of the troll. I could, however, hear him fumbling with the gas pump nozzle in the tank every now and again.

I had no idea where they were taking me or what they wanted. What I did know was that I probably wouldn’t have a better chance, than at that moment, to try to escape. I tuned my ears to listen for the slightest noise as I slowly slid my left arm up my side and past my head. My knuckles grazed along the left door panel until they made contact with the door latch. I stopped and listened to make sure the troll was still filling the gas tank. As if on queue, the springs on the right rear of the SUV lowered as the Neanderthal leaned against it.

I grasped the door latch and slowly pulled it toward me. The door opened with a faint pop. Sunlight blazed through the crack in the doorway blinding me. I pushed the door wider and raised myself on my hands and knees as I began to crawl toward the open door.

The SUV was higher off the ground than I had anticipated. I moved so quickly through the opening I had no time to brace myself for the two-foot drop to the ground. My hands came down hard on the oil stained cement. My arms buckled and my head smacked the ground. The rest of my body tumbled out with one of my feet still caught in the doorway.

I heard a sharp gasp and looked up to find a woman quickly guiding her children around me as she stared at me in horror.

“Call the police!” I called after her retreating back. The woman and her children disappeared around the front of the SUV without a backward glance. Ignoring the shards of pain, I hurriedly untangled myself and was about to stand up when I heard a voice directly behind me.

“Going somewhere?” I turned around, knowing it was none other than the troll. From where I crouched, my line of sight fell on his kneecaps. I gathered my breath and opened my mouth to let out the loudest yell I could manage. The cry locked in my throat as the troll stepped closer and placed the barrel of his big gun in the center of my chest. My eyes climbed his large rumpled frame until they came to his mouth. What I saw there did not encourage me to venture any further. The troll’s wide mouth was twisted into a cruel grin that bared a lot of big white teeth. Too stupid to halt there, my eyes met his. His green eyes were vacant yet somehow managed to convey the layer upon layer of maliciousness that vibrated through his being.

“Sneaky bitch,” he sneered. For someone so large, he could move quickly. Before I could register what was happening, he drew the gun back and clubbed me on the side of my head. Damn, that was going to leave another bruise. Miranda was not going to be pleased…

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Sorry for the delay.

The Discovery: Book Two of The Galaxy Ryder Series

There are some things that can’t be helped or avoided. Time, tide and once in a while personal issues. I do apologize to my readers for the delay in the release of The Discovery. I will do my best to get Book Two in The Galaxy Ryder Series out as soon as possible. I want to thank you for your inquires and your patience. I appreciate both as well as your interest in The Discovery and the other forthcoming books in the Galaxy Ryder Series.

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Patience? I don’t have any either.

The Noose, A Thriller/Adventure novelette by Dawn Gena

Since I’ve started publishing many of the books I wrote for Chronicle Keeperz as ebooks with Amazon, Barnes and Noble and various other book sellers there have been a few requests to hurry and get The Noose out there. In response, folks I’m moving along as fast as I can.

The Noose by Dawn Gena

The Noose happens to be my favorite series too. I do have one dilemma when it comes to this novelette series. Should the main character be a man or a woman? I wish I could decide based on sales but just as many women purchased the thriller/adventure novelette with themselves or another female as the lead character as did men. In the coming days I will publish a portion of a chapter from The Noose on this blog. In one post will be The Noose with a female lead character and another post will have the lead character as a male. You decide which you like better.

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Some Secrets Are Released With A Big Bang

The Discovery, Book 2 of The Galaxy Ryder Series by Dawn Gena

You’d think trying to survive junior high school was a full-time job. Not for Curtis Bryant. If Curtis thought his book bag was filled to the zipper before, what will he do when his grandparents decide to throw in a few family secrets?

The only way to find out is to read The Discovery, Book 2 of The Galaxy Ryder Series due out later this month.